RIP Canadian rock legend Myles Goodwyn. The leader of April Wine was 75.

Myles Goodwyn was one of the eternal characters of Canadian rock. He and I go back to 1972 when I was ten years old and first heard “Bad Side of the Moon” (April Wine’s Elton John cover) on one of those old K-Tel collections. After that, it was “You Could Have Been a Lady,” the entire Stand Back album, and then every record after that, including (and maybe especially) Nature of the Beast in 1981. Me and my buddy Charlie blasted this one in the car to and from university.

Damn, but Myles was a hit machine. Through the 70s and early 80s, an album would appear every year and each one would be loaded with songs that made it to radio. A couple of these records–Harder…Faster from 1979 and Nature were two–went gold and platinum in the US. Older songs like “Roller” (1975) are still heard all over classic rock radio. April Wine sold more than 10 million records and had no fewer than 11 Juno nominations. Until The Hip came along, you could make the argument that April Wine was Canada’s house band.

I met Myles a number of times over the years, the most recent being when April Wine was inducted into the Canadian Walk of Fame with 12 other legendary Canadian acts. Even though Myles had retired from touring with the band at age 75, he seemed in great spirits and good health. He was going to spend his time managing the band. That’s why the announcement of his death on Sunday (December 3) was so shocking.

Myles had a close call in 2008 when he developed some internal bleeding on his way to a gig, probably from years of alcohol abuse. It was touch-and-go for a while. Fortunately, time in rehab did the trick. It also kicked Myles back into high gear with touring, the writing of a memoir, and a solo blues album.

No cause of death has been given so far.